If you want your customers to see your shop through a different lens while shopping online, Seth Godin’s brainchild Squidoo may be just what you are looking for.  Squidoo, which is now 5 years old, is a user-generated website that allows anyone to create single pages (called lenses) on subjects of interest. The concept behind Squidoo is that you are providing insights about a product or activity that you think others might be interested in, because Godin believes that everyone is an expert in something.

Even if you already have a website for your shop, this free service can give you with a way to create a page on a single topic independent of your regular site.  Because it is not necessary to know HTML in order to use Squidoo, anyone who can write copy and access photos can create a lens.  There is no charge to participate, since the pages carry some advertising.

The creation of a single page on a topic is perfectly suited for two purposes in a retail store: posting information about a product on your Facebook page (and in other social media), and using in-store signage featuring a QR code that takes customers using a smart phone directly to the page.  Accessing the lens instantly provides the shopper with additional information about the product.

You need to register to create a Squidoo account, but the process is quite painless. Keep in mind that your user name will be what customers see, so you want it to relate to your store. After you’ve registered, you will receive an e-mail that you need to click on to activate your account. Don’t forget to add a photo of yourself and your store, and some background information. Otherwise your “lens” will show this information as missing, which doesn’t look very professional!

There is a well-thought out guided script that will help title your first page (or lens) and pick a category and sub-category.  The next step is to select whether you want to receive income from your page or have any income go to charity, and then to start adding photos and text.

A box automatically comes up linking to Amazon, but of course you’ll want to hit “x” to delete this box (unless you have an Amazon storefront). Once you have completed your lens you just hit publish, and there it is. You can take a look here at my first attempt, which took less than 30 minutes.  It was a simple matter to post a link to it on our Facebook page, and in fact the program would do this automatically if you grant it permission. 

An added bonus to using Squidoo is that your lens is likely to turn up quickly in internet searches under the topic you’ve chosen. According to the company, “Google LOVES Squidoo. Most lenses will climb to the top of the results for their keywords (given that the lens is made properly). Squidoo lenses get indexed very quickly. It is not uncommon to make a lens and find it in Google search returns in 48 hours.”  That’s a great result for little effort and no cost.

Happy Retailing,

Carol “Orange” Schroeder